Manoj Kumar's father gave him a letter as he left home in 1956 for acting: “My blood can never commit blunders…”

Manoj Kumar, hands down, was the most underrated filmmaker of Hindi cinema. His dazzling oeuvre of directorials from ‘Upkar’ and ‘Purab Aur Paschim’ to ‘Shor’ and ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan’ embodies the very best elements of mainstream Hindi cinema. And we aren’t even talking about his blizzard of blockbusters as an actor as yet.

Today, the legendary star is no more with us, but his conversation, his legacies, and his life, are still being celebrated in millions of hearts. Recalling the superstar of the industry, we came across one of his earlier conversations, where the visionary narrated how he never intended to be a director, but fate had other plans.

“I never intended to be a director in the first place. I became one by default when, during ‘Shaheed,’ I had to direct the film unofficially. Then, Lal Bahadur Shastri raised the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.’ That’s how I made ‘Upkar,’” said the late actor.

Manoj Kumar's father gave him a letter when he left home in 1956Further, in the conversation, he gave credit for his success to his parents.“My father was a poet and philosopher. I came to Mumbai with two targets - one was to be a hero, and the other was to make 3 lakh rupees,1 lakh each for my two parents and 1 lakh for my siblings. When I had left home in Delhi in 1956 to come to Mumbai to become a hero my father gave me a letter. In that letter, he said, ‘My blood can never commit blunders, only mistakes’. I made mistakes in my career. But not blunders,” he quoted.

The genesis of 'Roti, Kapada Aur Makaan'
Recalling the genesis of one of his most well-known films, ‘Roti, Kapada Aur Makaan’ Manoj Kumar said, “When I was in class 8, a senior student named Dewan at a school function chanted, ‘Maang raha hai Hindustan roti kapada aur makaan. That’s where the idea came to me. ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan’ remains contemporary. The film was inspired by a newspaper report from the 1972. A young graduate tore up his degree in front of the vice-chancellor as soon as it was given to him. That set me thinking about degrees and jobs.”

"In the culture that I come from, men didn’t touch women before marriage," Manoj KumarSharing an anecdote from his beautiful life and career, the actor further narrated this tale: “I was in Hardwar with my children once when I heard ‘haye haye yeh majboori’ early morning at 4 am on the loudspeaker. I found that funny. Yes, Zeenat danced, and I just watched. The irony of the situation was Bharat couldn’t join her in the rain because he had to go for a job interview. Also, after ‘Upkar’ and ‘Purab Aur Pachchim’, where I played a patriotic idealist, how could I be shown getting intimate with the heroine?”

“In the culture that I come from, men didn’t touch women before marriage. Trust me it was very hard for me to not touch my heroine and still create romance. It used to be a nightmare. In ‘Purab Aur Paschim,’ Saira Banu played a half-British girl. Wohto seedha pakad kar chummi le leti. It took all my willpower to protect the sanctity of my hero Bharat,” shared the ‘Bharat’ of Bollywood.